When you're old and grey
by miss.sioux
Summary: George cant get over his beloved brothers death, he never really got any closure, and he'd give anything to have one last conversation with him, no matter how dangerous... *one shot*


**This is just a little one shot that I couldnt get out of my head. The Weasley twins were always my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series and I always wondered how George managed to deal with Freds death, when his twin was, essentially, the other half of him. I'm not sure whether this is any good so reviews are always welcome, and I welcome critisism, it helps me improve. Let me know what you think :) x**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own Harry Potter or the Weasley twins xx**

George sighed as he looked at the newspaper clipping for the millionth time since it had happened. He looked at it at least ten times a day since the incident, couldn't help it, no matter how much his family told him it was unhealthy, no matter how much he knew it himself.

The day after the battle at Hogwarts, and ultimately the defeat of the dark wizard who had ruined so many lives, the prophet had been rife with news of the battle. The front page was covered with Harry Potter's defeat of the dark lord, but the whole newspaper was filled with smaller articles about different aspects of the battle, such as articles about the people who had died fighting.

Most people, such as Lupin and Tonks, had only tiny articles written about their deaths, just stating that they had fought valiantly and had been taken from their new born son far too soon.

The clipping that George held, however, was a full length, with a face winking at him from the centre of the page that was a carbon copy of his own.

Of course Fred's death had gotten a whole page because he was one half of the famous founders of Weasley's wizarding wheezes, which was now the most well-loved business in Diagon alley. The article talked of the joke shop mostly, but it also had information about Fred's life at Hogwarts, such as his position as beater, and Fred and George's spectacular exit from education mid-way through seventh year.

The article had stated that Fred had been taken from his devastated family, and had mentioned that Fred was a twin. This was an understatement. The Weasley's were not simply devastated, they were torn apart, and George, well George felt as if half of him had been torn away, and the other half had been left to rot. George would happily give his other ear if it brought Fred back, in fact he would give his life if it meant one more minute with his twin.

_Don't think like that! _A harsh voice in George's conscience warned. It was ironic that his conscience always spoke in Fred's voice, the latter being the more sensible of the two. George knew himself deep down, though, that he couldn't do leave his mother with the loss of another child so soon after Fred's death, though he wasn't sure if, given the chance, he wouldn't die to see Fred again.

George had stayed at the burrow for a couple of weeks after the battle, at his mother's insistence, but he had barely been able to stand the rest of his family mourning. He knew it was unfair, selfish even, that he wished they wouldn't be sad around him, but he felt enough grief for twenty people and couldn't handle having to worry about other people's anguish right now. He would make it up to them later, but now he needed to be alone and grieve for his lost half, his beloved twin.

It was ironic that the one person that could have pulled George from his torment was the one he was grieving for in the first place.

Yes, George would give anything to see his brother again, no matter how temporary, and that is why he had seeked out Hermione and, in confidence from his family, asked for her help.

Hermione had been shocked into speechlessness by the redheads request, which George felt sure was a first for the young bookworm, but she had been witness to George utter despondency for the last few months, and in an attempt to help him heal, had agreed to try and help, against her better judgement.

George only half expected her to agree; knowing Hermione, her wishing to have a solution to everything would have been warring with her sense of rightness. She had of course, told George, that death could not be reversed and it was wrong of anyone to try and bring their loved ones back from their peaceful afterlife, but she had agreed to see if she could find a spell of some kind that would allow George one last conversation with Fred.

George hoped that Hermione's advanced intellect would not fail on him now, because Hermione was the only person he knew that would have a chance of finding such magic.

So a month after he had enlisted his sister-in-law-to-be's help, George had found himself sitting in his lonely flat above the joke shop, looking at the clipping yet again, and feeling the hopelessness slipping back into his mind, colouring his thoughts with the murky grey colour of grief, streaks of red shot through caused by his anger at every death eater and supporter of Voldemort that had dared to fight against them in the battle, every one of them that had a hand in robbing him of his brother.

_What George wouldn't give to meet one of those traitors now, he would go to Azkaban for life for what he would do to them, and he'd take great pleasure in it, laughing as he was carted away..._

Suddenly he was startled from his dark thoughts by an urgent rapping on the back door. The back door led out into Diagon alley whilst the front door led down into the back room of the shop. Who could possibly be calling at this time?

As the persons knocking became more urgent, George pulled himself up with a groan, folding the newspaper cutting and putting it into his jeans pocket as he walked for stairs in the kitchen that led down to the back door. Undoing the bolts and chains that he and Fred had added during the war, he opened the door to find a nervous Hermione hiding what looked suspiciously like an overlarge book under her jacket. George stood to the side wordlessly as she barged past him and started bolting the door back up.

When the last chain had been swung across Hermione turned to George with a look of great apprehension on her face. George looked back at her expectantly, as she seemed to war with herself.

"Let's go upstairs," she eventually muttered, still eyeing George as if he might suddenly attack her for the book she held firmly under her arm.

As Hermione perched herself in George's chair at the small breakfast bar, George started for the other chair, before remembering it was Fred's chair and opting to stand instead. George hadn't touched any of Fred's things since he had died, couldn't do it, it would be finally accepting Fred was never coming back, and George wasn't ready for that. If Hermione noticed George's renewed look of grief, or his reluctance to sit on the other stool she didn't mention it, and for that George was grateful to his baby brother's fiancé.

"I've found a potion that will enable you to speak to Fred" Hermione said softly, bringing George back from his musing with a bump "but it's incredibly dangerous, not to mention illegal…"

"Let's do it" George said boldly, though the effect was ruined by the croaking of his voice that was so seldom used these days. Hermione looked at him sharply.

"Don't you even want to know the dangers?" she asked edgily.

"Won't change anything, I'd do it anyway" George said just as sharply. Hermione glared at him for a moment before she huffed.

"well I'm going to tell you anyway or I would never be able to live with myself if anything happened, not that I'd be able to anyway..." she trailed off moodily as she started flicking through the pages of the oversized book that looked older than Nicholas Flamel. George decided to keep quiet, because the quicker she got through with telling him what could go wrong, the quicker she could get on with brewing the potion. He resolved to keep his mouth shut until she handed him the potion.

"The way the potion works is you take a sip, and it makes the spirit leave the body and hover in limbo. Whilst you're in limbo, Fred should be already waiting for you in that place, after 15 minutes your spirit will be dragged back into your body, which apparently can be quite painful. You get 15 minutes George, and that is all, if you try and stop your spirit from returning to your body you will be stuck in limbo forever, never able to move on, never able to join Fred in the afterlife. Fred won't be able to stay with you if you get stuck there, he's already chosen to move on and he will go straight back there whether he wants to or not. Also, if the potion is brewed wrong then it could have the same effect, eternity in limbo" Hermione finished looking extremely troubled. George had to admit, the idea of getting stuck in limbo did not seem very appealing, but he wasn't too worried. After all, he had the best witch of his age to make sure the potion was brewed correctly, and he wasn't stupid enough to do anything to prevent his soul returning to his body. At least, he didn't think he was that stupid. He looked back to Hermione who seemed like she was regretting finding this spell at all. The heart-breaking look on her face made him forgo his resolution to stay quiet.

"Hermione, I understand the consequences, and I promise to do everything I can to return to my body" George spoke seriously, his hand going up to where his left ear had once been, as it often did in times of stress. Hermione looked up at him, eyes shining with tears, desperately wanting to help George, but also worrying immensely that she would cause him an untimely she chewed on her bottom lip, tears threatening to spill over, George thought for the first time what an awful predicament he was putting the brainy witch in.

"Hermione, I promise that nothing bad will happen to me, and if it does it will not be your fault, but please Hermione, I really need this, I need to speak to him, I'd do anything to speak to him one last time, and if you don't want to help me I promise ill understand, but I have less chance of getting that potion right than you do" George pleaded, not bothering to feel embarrassed that his own blue eyes were now feeling rather wet. George hadn't cried since he was an infant, but since Fred had died it had become a regular occurrence. Hermione seemed to war with herself for a few more seconds before letting out a deep sigh and pulling a lumpy looking package from the inside of her robes.

"I have all the ingredients except one, I couldn't find Doxy eggs anywhere, even Dung couldn't get me any, says there's a shortage..." Hermione began in a brisk tone.

"I've got some in the lab" George interrupted, already striding to the metal door, just off the living room, that held the laboratory the twins had made themselves. It wasn't much of a lab really, just a few mis-matched tables, several cauldrons and boxes and bags full of various ingredients for their inventions. George hadn't been in this room since Fred had gone. Truthfully he hadn't been in any rooms besides the kitchen, his bedroom and the bathroom. Those rooms had been the least personal to his missing twin, and still they had hurt more than enough.

Right now George didn't let himself dwell in the memories this room brought, instead pushing the recollections to the back of his mind, a focus now in place, which was getting the doxy eggs and making the potion so he could talk to Fred.

As he backed out of the room, doxy eggs in hand, George stooped to pick up a cauldron, doubting Hermione had one of those in that sack.

Returning to the kitchen, George saw that Hermione had already rolled up her sleeves and set about preparing the other ingredients.

Half an hour later, as the cauldron bubbled slowly, Hermione read the instructions from the book for the hundredth time since they had begun, claiming it was better to be safe than sorry. George appreciated the caution she was taking, after all, it was his spirit that may end up trapped in limbo, with no one else to see for eternity other than the other poor bastards that had gotten stuck there.

"Oh George!" Hermione exclaimed, clapping her hand to her forehead in despair. "I forgot! We need a piece of the person you're trying to speak to! I can't believe I forgot that, it was the most difficult thing on the list!" Hermione panicked. George put a hand up to stop her hysterical jabbering.

"Fred and I cut a chunk of our hair ages ago, in case we even needed it for one of our products" George murmured gently, striding off into the lab again.

The little boxes with the twins' hair were easy to locate, as George had been thinking about them frequently, since the tragedy had occurred. His last care-free memory. George recalled Fred laugh perfectly as he hacked off a chunk of his hair with his potions knife.

"_mind yourself with that knife George, you don't wanna go slicing off your good ear, mind if you do, I'm going to have to poke a stick in one of those holes to see if it comes out the other side, or if I've been wrong all these years and you actually have a brain in between those lugs" Fred had teased, handing the knife over, as George laughed at his brothers larking about._

George sighed wistfully at the memory, pulling out the two little Tupperware boxes from the desk. Fred's was labelled 'Fred's dreads', and George's was named 'George's gingerlocks'. Smiling slightly to himself, George pushed his own box back into the drawer and carried Fred's small Tupperware back into the kitchen.

Hermione cast George a searching look, as if to make sure he was okay with this, before taking half of the hair from the box and dropping it into the cauldron.

"You can keep the rest, this much should do" she said softly as she stirred the, now deep blue, potion slowly. George nodded at her gratefully as he put the lid back on and wandered into his bedroom to deposit the box into his bedside table. He would think about it later.

As he walked back into the kitchen Hermione was taking the cauldron off the flames. She turned to look at him sternly.

"George, I want to make this clear that this is a one-time deal, if you attempt it a second time you will get stuck in limbo, so to save you the temptation I am getting rid of the rest of this potion while your... while your unconscious" Hermione stated sternly. George knew better than to argue, so he settled for nodding earnestly as Hermione turned back to the cauldron and ladled a portion into a shot glass.

"Take it all in one gulp, like you would a shot of firewhisky" she whispered, back to looking anxious. George nodded again, taking the shot glass from her and grasping her shoulder briefly.

"Thanks Hermione" he muttered, backing away from her whilst he raised the shot glass to his lips.

"Bottoms up" he gave a small smile to the frightened witch as he gulped the liquid, which was now a bright orange; curiously the same colour as the twins hair, down in a single gulp. George held his breath for a moment, expecting something to happen, before returning to Hermione.

"You sure you ..." he was cut off as his body hit the floor, and his spirit was wrenched the other way.

George closed his eyes as he soared up into the sky, or at least he thought he had his eyes closed, but he wasn't sure if spirits even had eyes to close.

It was a little like travelling by floo, except that he wasn't spinning, just shooting upwards at an extremely accelerated speed. Finally George felt himself stop moving, and opened his eyes to look around. Everything was just clouds, hemmed in by the fluffy white lumps of condensation. He couldn't see a thing.

Just as George was about to try and make his way back to his body he heard a voice behind him.

"Going so soon Georgie? And here was me thinking you wanted to talk to me! You come all the way up here and I don't get so much as a 'I've missed you, my favouritest brother in the whole wide world" Fred laughed cheekily as George whirled to face him. George just looked at him disbelievingly, not really believing he was seeing the face he had been wishing to see for months.

George found that now he was here, he could do no more than gape at Fred in disbelief. Fred tapped his watch with a raised eyebrow to indicate that time was ticking, and George found he couldn't hold back any longer, throwing himself at Fred and wrapping his long arms around him, breaking down onto his shoulder.

"Fr...Fre...Fred! I've missed you so much!" George sobbed as Fred patted his shoulder.

"I've missed you too mate" Fred murmured

After a couple of minutes of sobbing on his brothers shoulder, George suddenly remembered that he only had 15 minutes, and almost five of those were up. He pulled back and looked at Fred properly. Apart from a thin scar on his forehead Fred looked exactly the same as he always did.

"Is that off the... the accident?" George asked shakily. Fred grinned as he ran a finger across the faint pink line.

"Yeah it is. What d'you reckon? Do I look like a sexier version of Harry now?" Fred chuckled. George managed a small smile.

"No, you'll always look like an uglier version of me. Everyone always says so"

"if that's what you think people are saying then you obviously need your ears checked" they both cracked up laughing, and for a moment, one beautiful, blissful blip in time, George closed his eyes and managed to convince himself that Fred hadn't died, that the two of them were in the lab at home, having another humorous verbal sparring match just like always.

Of course it couldn't last, sooner or later George would have to open his eyes and realise that he had around 8 minutes left to talk to his brother, and then he would go back to his body and his life, while Fred would go wherever it was Fred lives now. An abundance of questions built up in Georges mind as he turned to look at his still chuckling brother.

"Are you happy Fred?" he asked solemnly. Fred turned to him with a serious expression.

"I am Georgie. Or at least I'm as happy as I can be without my twin at my side. I've got Sirius and Remus and the gang to keep me company of course, but I still miss you" he said sadly.

"I miss you like hell Fred. When I'm at my darkest I think of joining you" George closed his eyes, not wanting to see his brother's reaction to the secret he hadn't told another living being. It was useless keeping things from Fred though. The twins could always tell when the other was hiding things from them.

"I know you've been thinking about it George" Fred said quietly. George eyes shot open in surprise.

"You reading minds now Freddie?" he asked, only half joking. Fred smiled ruefully.

"I've been watching you. Up there we can see everything, and I've been watching you none stop. I've seen the state you've been in since the incident Georgie, and I wish there was something I could do to help, but I don't think there is. But please George, don't do anything stupid. I've been watching the family too. Mums almost as bad as you are, and she needs you. She feels as if she's lost two sons. Dads doing everything she can to comfort her, and so's the rest of the family, but it's you she needs most George. Mum would be devastated if you left her too. Please don't even think about it." Fred begged. George nodded sincerely, not used to seeing his brother looking so vulnerable. He decided to change the subject.

"So what's it like Upstairs?" George asked, waving an arm skyward. Fred let out a throaty laugh.

"Well there's houses and stuff, but there's no ground, everything rests on cloud. I'm currently sharing a house with a girl I met a few months back. Marie and I are really hitting it off. Sirius house shares with Uncle Gideon and Fabian, I think they bonded over jokes and pranks. They live right next door to Marie and I, and on the other side of their house lives Harrys Mum and Dad, tell Harry they said 'Hi' by the way. Lupin and Tonks live opposite the potters. One little happy community. Colin Creevey and his little brother Dennis live a few streets over; I bump into them all the time. Oh and I saw Mad-Eye up here a few times, he lives about a half our away, next to Dumbledore, Uncle Bilius and all the other old single blokes." Fred laughed chirpily. George chuckled at the thought of Moody and Dumbledore having tea and playing that muggle game... golf... with their insane Uncle Bilius. It was absurd to think about.

"You know Snapes innocent right? Is he up there?" George asked curiously. Fred looked thoughtful for a minute.

"I think so but I'm not sure. I thought I saw him once, but if he is up there he would probably stay clear of our area anyway. All the marauders live on my street, remember?" George nodded thoughtfully. Fred looked at his wrist before frowning.

"I'm sorry to say this but times almost up Georgie. We don't want to have you stuck here do we?" he said regretfully. George grimaced.

"Isn't there anyway I could come with you? Or that you could come home?" he asked desperately. His brother had started shaking his head before he could even finish.

"There isn't a way Forge, and even if there was it would kill mum. You need to be strong for her."

"How can I be strong for mum if I can't even be strong for myself?" George felt his tear ducts start prickling. Fred wrapped a shaky arm around his shoulders.

"I'll be watching you constantly George. And I know it might feel weird, but if you want to talk to me, even though I can't talk back ill still hear you. There's also a surprise for you in my bedroom that I think you might find helpful. Oh and by the way I met a prophet up here" grinned Fred cheekily. George frowned at him, confused.

"What does a prophet have to do with me?"

"Before I came to meet you today, I asked him if there was anything he could tell me about your future. You're going to get another surprise when you finally get round to opening the shop, and I'm telling you now that I don't mind" Fred laughed, gesturing in the air with his hand.

"You don't mind what?" George asked, still rather puzzled. Fred just winked at him.

"You'll find out when you open the shop, just don't leave it too long because your missing out on profits. You're going to be a rich man Forge, and in more ways than simply money."

George opened his mouth to ask another question, but was cut off by the most peculiar tugging sensation somewhere near his naval.

"This is it Georgie. Well meet again, hopefully when you're old and grey, but don't forget that I'm watching. I love you" Fred murmured, pulling George into a tight embrace. George hugged him back just as fiercely.

"I love you too Fred" he whispered brokenly as the tugging from his naval increased in strength. The boys pulled apart regretfully. Their matching pairs of bright blue eyes were both shining with barely controlled tears.

"Bye Forge"

"Bye Gred"

George let the tugging overtake him and suddenly he was falling. It was as if he had jumped of a broomstick. George didn't have his wand on him as he'd left it back with his body, so all there was for him to do was scrunch his eyes shut and wait for the impact. It never came.

Instead of a body crushing smash into the earth, George had slowed down and drifted into his body slowly. Not that the experience wasn't painful though. George would liken it to having your skin sewed back onto your muscles. Not a pleasant feeling at all.

As the red head opened his eyes wearily, finding himself lying on the living room couch, he was surprised to see not only Hermione, but Ron, Harry and Ginny too, all wearing expressions of seriousness. Hermione was sat, seemingly trying to shrink herself into the armchair, with a red faced and furious Ron standing over her. Harry was stood with a hand on Ron's shoulder, appearing to be trying to calm him down, and Ginny was sat next to George, calmly watching it unfold in her remarkably Ginny-ish way. George gave a slight cough causing all heads to snap to him. Ginny was the first to react, slapping George forcefully on the cheek.

"Do you have any idea what you put us through?" she demanded in a deathly calm voice, reminiscent of Mrs Weasley. George grinned sheepishly.

"I'm okay though" he said lightly, rubbing his flaming cheek. Ron snorted disdainfully.

"Yeah but you might not have been you idiot! Hermione thought the potion had gone wrong, called us to come over in a panic, crying and hysterical that she thought she'd killed you!" he raged angrily. George raised his eyebrows cynically.

"Didn't stop you going mad at her though did it Ronniekins" Ron looked as if he was about to retort when Harry cut him off.

"Did it work then? Did you get to speak to him?" Ginny rolled her eyes at her fiancés obvious curiosity, though she too looked to George, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah I saw him. He's happy. He says your Mum and Dad say 'Hello' Harry" George told him, grimacing slightly when Harry flinched at the mention of his parents.

"What else did he say?" asked Ron begrudgingly. George took a deep breath, trying to remember everything. He relayed everything that Fred had told him, and a couple of minutes after he'd finished they all sat in stunned silence, thinking about the little community full of their lost loved ones. Ginny was the first to break the peaceful quiet.

"Who would have thought that Sirius would end up living with uncle Fab and uncle Gid" she said in a hushed whisper.

"I'm more surprised that Dumbledore and Moody manage to put up with uncle Bilius" Ron stated incredulously. George chuckled quietly, stopping when Ginny's head snapped sharply back to him.

"Are you planning on telling Mum?" she asked forcefully. George hesitated.

"I wasn't planning on it, but if you think…"

"No! Do not tell Mum about this. It'll just make her more upset. Let's just keep this between us, agreed?" she glared round the room at each of them until they nodded at her.

They talked for another hour before Harry and Ginny left. It was another half an hour before Ron and Hermione left, back to being their lovey dovey selves once George had taken the full blame for the plan and berated him for shouting at his wife-to-be. Ron had apologised earnestly to Hermione and she had forgiven him instantly.

Now that George was alone he decided to go to bed, hoping that with his slightly better mood he would get some sleep. It wasn't until he passed Fred's room that he remembered Fred saying there was a surprise for him in there. He opened the door hesitantly, coughing slightly as the plumes of dust rose after being dormant for so long. As he switched on the light he gasped at what was propped up in the corner.

About a week before the battle, they were living at Aunt Muriel's house with the rest of the family minus Ron and Bill. Muriel had had a painter come and do a family portrait of them all, stating a little too gleefully that this could be the last time they were all alive. George had laughed his aunt's warnings off, but Fred had seemed slightly worried about it. He had gone after the young female painter as she headed towards the front door. George had thought it was so he could ask her out, as she was quite pretty, but the painting in front of him now explained the real reason Fred followed her.

It was a life-size portrait of his twin brother, grinning at him mischievously. George strode over to the painting and sat in front of it.

"Is that really you Fred?" he asked. The painting winked at him cheekily.

"It's definitely me. And I don't mean an echo of me like most magical paintings either. I charmed this portrait to be a sort of gateway in case either one of us died." He told brightly. George frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean I put a charm on this portrait so that if either one of us died we would be able to talk through this portrait. When the girl painted it, it could have been either one of us; it wasn't till I died that it my characteristics were added to it because of the charm. If you had died the portrait would have turned into you. Good job I went really, seeing as I'm much more picture perfect" he laughed.

"But what do you mean it she real you? You're going to live in this picture?" George enquired. Fred chuckled.

"No, I'm going to keep living with Marie, but I can pop into this picture any time I like. All you need to do is shout for me and ill pop in for a chat." He smiled. George laughed.

"Like one of those muggle felly-tones?"

"Yeah like those"

"Genius!"

With the help of the ingenious portrait of Fred George was finally able to carry on with his life. It was never the same, and it still hurt every single day that Fred was gone, but it helped a lot to have his little chats with Fred portrait every few days. George started off by taking it one day at a time, and before he knew it the days had turned into weeks, the weeks had transformed into months and the months had morphed into years.

It was the day after his visit to limbo that George found out what Fred had meant by his little comment; _'__I'm__ telling you now, I don't mind'__. _Angelina Johnson walked into the shop, and the two of them went for a coffee to catch up. George had such a good time he asked her out again. Angelina had been Fred's girlfriend for a brief period in high school, but they had parted on friendly terms, and if it wasn't for Fred's words George would have probably felt guilty for being interested in her.

Pretty soon George and Angelina were inseparable, and within the year they were engaged to be married. Georges family were thrilled, Molly instantly planning the nuptials, and the happy couple were wed in a beautiful ceremony in the gardens of the Burrow. Fred's portrait, which George had shared with his family by this point, was standing by the alter, as George would rather have no one else as his Best Man.

As the years passed George became an Uncle to many redheaded tots, and of course a Father to his own little brood. Fred Jr and Roxanne were twins, though they were nothing like their father and his brother. Fred Jr was a mischief maker, never happy unless he was in the midst of some kind of chaos, surpassing even peeves with his havoc-making. Roxanne was a lot more like her mother, a strong, opinionated girl with fire and ice running through her veins. Even Fred Jr and his cousin James often thought twice about riling her up, and those two were fearless enough to go against Grandma Molly, a feat that Fred and George were loath to try.

And George found over the years that he was happy again, though the hole inside him that Fred left was never fully healed, he had a good life, and he kept his promise to Fred.

The next time he saw him in person, George was old and grey.


End file.
